Nominees for CJ, deputy to be known Friday
Lawyer Nancy Baraza before the Judicial Service Commission for an interview of the deputy Chief Justice on May 12, 2011. The JSC will disclose the names of the candidates they have recommended for the post of Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice Friday. JENNIFER MUIRURI
The Judicial Service Commission will Friday disclose the names of the candidates they have recommended for the post of Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice.
They will then forward the names to the President and the Prime Minister for appointment to the positions after approval by Parliament.
JSC Chairman Titus Gateere made the announcement Thursday after the completion of interviews for the candidates who were shortlisted for the two posts.
He, however, did not say how many names in each position they were going to forward to the principals.
“We will sit and deliberate on how many to recommend after evaluating what each candidate scored during the interview. We will also consider what the law says and provides for us,” said Gateere.
He said the commission believed they have done a good job in the interviews, promising that they will not let Kenyans down in their choice.
“We have been transparent in our interviews and if anybody has any complaint, they should raise it after we come up with the names. The Act requires that we nominate after vetting and that is what we are going to do,” said Gateere.
Ten candidates were interviewed for the post of Chief Justice while six were interviewed for the deputy in the exercise that took ten days.
For Chief Justice, the candidates were Court of Appeal judges Justices Riaga Omollo, Samuel Bosire, Alnashir Visram and Joseph Nyamu. From the High Court were Justices Kihara Kariuki, Mbogholi Msagha, Mary Ang'awa and Kalpana Rawal.
Also interviewed for the post were International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda (ICTR) Judge Lee Muthoga and lawyer Willy Mutunga of the Ford Foundation.
The six candidates interviewed for the post of Deputy Chief Justice were High Court Judges justices Roselyne Nambuye, Mary Kasango, Hannah Okwengu, and Martha Koome. Others were lawyers Nancy Baraza and Gladys Shollei.
Justice Mary Ang’awa, who was also shortlisted for the post of deputy Chief Justice was not interviewed because she had been interviewed earlier for Chief Justice’ post.
